APNewsBreak: $36M cut to SC education delayed

COLUMBIA — The U.S. Department of Education plans to punish South Carolina for not spending enough money on special education but will delay a funding cut for at least a year, which education officials said Friday will give them time to prepare.

The federal agency says in a letter it will reduce South Carolina’s federal allocation for students with disabilities by $36.2 million on Oct. 1 of next year. The penalty is being imposed because of state cuts in special education for 2009-2010.

Education officials feared the federal penalty would come this school year.

The letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, says the agency is exercising its discretion to delay the reduction, though it doesn’t say why. It warns states generally not to rely on such a delay in the future.

School department spokesman Jay Ragley said the one-year delay allows an appeal of the decision from South Carolina to be heard and, if necessary, for the state to make its case in court or Congress.

“This gives us a year to exercise our full rights,” Ragley said.

A spokeswoman for the state School Boards Association said at least districts won’t be hit with a mid-year cut.

“No cut is good, but the question that remains is if there will be a cut in federal allocation in 2012,” Debbie Elmore said.

The federal government’s fiscal year starts in October.

In June, the federal government threatened to withhold $111.5 million from the state as punishment for not spending enough on special education over the past three years, due to budget cuts amid the recession. Federal law bars states from spending less money on special education from one year to the next, though states can apply for an exemption.

If the $36 million cut stands, it would be split among the state’s 85 school districts.

Local districts could handle the cut differently. Because special education can’t be reduced, it means either reductions in services for other students or possibly increased property taxes, said Molly Spearman, executive director of the state Association of School Administrators.

“The delay will help. It gives them another year to prepare for it, but there’s only so much blood you can squeeze out of a turnip,” she said.

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